


Home Again

by silveryink



Series: Start Over [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brotherly Bonding, Conversations, Fix-It, Gen, No Slash, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 16:50:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15823014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silveryink/pseuds/silveryink
Summary: Asgard had been destroyed in Surtur's fire, and the Tesseract with it. Thor and Loki found themselves ending a war that could have destroyed the universe (or rather, half of it). Now that the fighting has come to an end, it's time to talk.





	Home Again

Loki could feel a headache build slowly, crawling up from the base of his skull.

The first time it had happened was when he’d been ten years old, as a result of overextending his _seidr_ before understanding its full capacity. Over the years, they had lessened (much to his relief) – at least until he had fallen through the Void. In the year he spent away from Asgard, he’d almost grown used to the migraines, but he’d been especially thankful when Thor had brought him back to Asgard (even if it were to the cells below the palace).

The most recent headache happened when Surtur had plunged his fiery sword into the heart of Asgard, destroying it in a cosmic explosion. It was arguably the worst one he’d ever dealt with.

It didn’t help that, soon after the explosion, a series of events had led him across the universe, trying to keep the Infinity Stones out of the hands of the Mad Titan, Thanos.

The remaining Asgardians had landed on Earth to find that one of the Titan’s inner circle, also called the Black Order, was doing his best to get his hands on the Time Stone. Loki felt that this was the most dangerous of the six stones, as it had the ability to reverse the effects of any event in time. It could very well reconstruct the Tesseract, which had been lost in Surtur’s explosion. And that would have caused a whole other set of problems.

Loki hadn’t been too surprised that Ebony Maw had come to collect the Stone. He was more concerned with the fact that it had happened so soon after Asgard had been destroyed (Thor denied its destruction, saying that Asgard was a people, but the Realm Eternal was now merely a pile of rocks floating through space).

Tony Stark had met him and Thor on the streets of New York. To his credit, he had accepted Loki’s presence easily, once he had helped them kill the Maw and explained his reasons behind the Chitauri Invasion. He didn’t expect complete forgiveness, of course, as the blame rested on him – partly, if not completely. He’d told them about Thanos, about how he had been forced into submission.

The memories still haunted him, though he said nothing of those. The Mind Stone had taken over the greater part of his will and rewritten his memories. It had taken all of five years to rid his mind of the effects of the stone.

Thor had insisted on their going to Nidavellir to forge a weapon strong enough to destroy the stones, or Thanos (which seemed unlikely to Loki, but he’d set his negative thoughts aside). The forge was lit, and Loki stepped in to divert the energy from the heart of the star towards the metal. He’d wondered, since then, if his _jotun_ blood had kept him alive. Whatever the reasons for his survival, he was grateful.

Thor told him later that he’d been yelling at Eitri to bring a handle for the axe, but he couldn’t remember anything but the energy bursting through him, burning him as it flowed over and through him. The only thing he’d felt, stepping off from the eye of the forge, was raw power coursing through his veins. His seidr had been enhanced, somehow.

He’d grinned, and Thor had taken a step back from the darkness it had held, the promise of vengeance, payback for what he had suffered at the hands of his tormentors. Thor had summoned the Bifrost with the new axe, which he called Stormbreaker, and they had landed on Titan just in time to keep the Time Stone safe and wrestle the Gauntlet off Thanos’ hand.

Stark was there too, along with the sorcerer who’d seen them barely a week ago on Earth, and Stark’s kid. Loki couldn’t remember Stark having a child, but who knew, among humans. The kid introduced himself as Spider-Man, and Loki wondered how he’d got the name. Thor had brought them back to Earth using the Bifrost. A battle waged between Thanos’ forces and the humans, but it was over almost as swiftly as it had started, with the Outriders’ and the Black Order’s destruction.

Discussions between the Avengers had ensured that the Infinity Stones were destroyed. Thor took care of the Aether with the help of Stormbreaker, while Loki produced some Dark Elf technology and used it to pull the Power Stone into an unreachable vortex. The princess of the country they’d landed in – Wakanda, Loki thought it was called – removed the Mind Stone from the android, whom Thor called Vision, and Wanda Maximoff had readily destroyed it.

No one was sure what to do with the Time Stone, until Loki suggested locking it in an endless loop of time and leaving it there. Princess Shuri ran the calculations and deemed it possible, much to his delight and relief. Strange had given in, despite his initial hesitation.

And now, a week later, Loki sat before the Security Council, who seemed to be studiously ignoring his role in saving the universe as they debated his sentence. The Avengers had been on his side, including, to his surprise, Clint Barton. The man had more reasons to hate him than any of the others, but he stood up for the trickster.

He stepped outside, closing the door gently behind him. His shoulders sagged when the noise was cut off. Thor cleared his throat, alerting him to his presence. Loki turned slowly, keeping his expression neutral.

“Well?” the king of Asgard asked.

Loki grinned. “Free of all charges.”

Thor laughed in joy and pulled him into an embrace. The sudden movement turned the steady hammering inside his skull into a sharp stab of agony. He must have made some distressed noise, for Thor stepped away, eyeing him anxiously. “How bad is it?”

Thor had usually been the first to know about Loki’s headaches. Somehow, Loki had always felt better after talking to Thor, since they were children. Not that he would have ever told him, of course.

“Terrible,” Loki admitted, as he never had done in the past. “It’s been going on and off since…”

“Since when?”

Loki was glad that Thor had lowered his voice. “Since Surtur.”

Thor’s eyes widened. “I think we should use the other way, then. I had to push back an astonishing number of reporters a while ago.”

Loki nodded, almost imperceptibly. Thor led him out from the back, taking a short route to the Avengers compound. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“The threat of Thanos was imminent. If he’d won, if he’d gotten all the stones, I would have had more to worry about than a headache.”

“What about on the ship, then?”

“You know that I don’t like to talk about my… my heritage.”

Thor frowned, glancing sideways at his brother. “What does that have to do with your headache?”

“Surtur is a Fire Giant. _Jotuns_ don’t exactly get along well with the giants of Muspellheim.”

Thor nodded, looking thoughtful. The two of them walked in silence. Fortunately, it was night. Loki hadn’t realised that an entire day had passed while they had argued back and forth, considering letting him stay with the Avengers or having him imprisoned in something they called The Raft.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Loki asked softly.

Thor chuckled. “Do you have a penny?”

“I don’t, but I could tell you what I’m thinking.”

“Well?”

“You first.”

Thor smiled. “You’ve changed,” Thor said, before realizing the opening the statement presented for a sarcastic remark. Loki shot him a dry look. “I’d roll my eyes right now if it wouldn’t make my head feel like it’s being pummeled by Mjolnir. Really, Thor, what a groundbreaking observation to make.”

“No, I meant… you are more comfortable to talk about your feelings now. A week before this, you would have hesitated to talk so freely.” Thor knew that Loki understood what he meant. “About your heritage, your past. Your pain.”

“What of my pain?”

“You wouldn’t have admitted that you have a terrible headache in the past. Norns, Loki, you didn’t admit it even a week back.”

“You were too busy with your kingly duties,” Loki objected.

“When did that stop you from badgering me aboard the Statesman? Brother, I mean what I say. You have told me much about your experiences that you wouldn't have before, especially concerning the Void.”

Loki flinched, and Thor felt a small pang of guilt at bringing it up. But he had to drive his point home. “But you only did it in the last two days, since we arrived at Midgard and destroyed the Infinity Stones.”

“We destroyed most of them. We don’t know where the Soul Stone is.”

“That’s not a matter for us, not now. It's best to leave it buried.”

"You don't know that it's buried," Loki countered with a small smile.

"It's a figure of speech!"

They had reached the Compound. Tony had insisted on giving the two brothers separate rooms, despite the possibility of Loki’s imprisonment. Loki was glad to find that they were opposite each other. _“Just like home,”_ Thor had said.

 _Home_. Loki smiled at the memory.

“I do believe it’s your turn,” Thor prompted.

Loki looked at Thor, silent for a moment, as he considered the phrasing of his statement.

“You said that our rooms were opposite each other, ‘just like home’.” He paused. “Remember when I said that I had no home?” Thor wince at the reminder of those words. “I didn’t know what to think. That entire year away from Asgard… it gave me a new perspective. One that I now know to be false.”

Thor waited. He knew that if he said something, Loki might change his mind about confiding in him. “What I mean to say is…” Loki looked away, and Thor could faintly see him flush. “Brother, you are home for me now. You have always been, and I don’t know why it took so long for me to realise it.” There was no stopping the words now. “You have always been here, no matter how much I pushed you away. Like a sort of anchor, a North Star, I suppose. I didn’t tell you that before, but it seemed worth saying now that everything’s settled.”

Thor stilled, and Loki wondered, had he said the wrong thing? He waited tentatively for Thor’s reply, but none came. Thor simply pulled Loki to him and hugged him fiercely. Loki hugged him back, reveling in the contact.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear that,” Thor whispered.

When he pulled back, Loki was smiling, wider than he had in an infinitely long time. They turned around a corner into the corridor where their bedrooms were located, and Loki’s smile disappeared as he winced. Thor rested a hand on his shoulder, concerned.

“I’ll sleep on it,” Loki said softly as they neared his room in the Compound. “It may get better in the morning.”

“I hope it does,” Thor said simply. He turned to open his own door, when Loki called, “Thor.”

The god of thunder looked back. Loki gave a slight nod. “Thank you. For being here for me.”

A smile split across Thor’s face, and his eyes lit up. Loki had forgotten that smile, it had been too long since he’d seen it last. He smiled back, every bit as wide as Thor, and closed the door.

They would have to go back to their people at some point, but Heimdall and the Valkyrie were taking good care of them for the moment. They would have to return and build the town Loki had named ‘New Asgard’.

_You are home for me. You have always been._

The two brothers would rule together, of course. They had come to realise that they were stronger together. But for now, they had earned some rest.

 


End file.
